ANKIT'S PRIORITIES
FOR DC
DC STATEHOOD
Ankit is 100% pro-D.C. statehood and statehood is his #1 priority. Passing the statehood bill requires someone who knows how Congress works; Ankit has worked in legislative advocacy and he has a plan to make statehood happen.
Ankit has already worked with pro-democracy advocacy organizations to get D.C. statehood included in a package of nationwide pro-democracy bills that has real momentum behind it. Ankit will work across the aisle with Republicans to get them to see the injustice and racism of denying over 700,000 Americans–a majority of whom are people of color and a plurality of whom are Black–the right to vote and secure a bipartisan vote for D.C. statehood. If that is unsuccessful, the next time Democrats have full control of government, Ankit will work with the entire pro-democracy community to push the democracy package through the House. He will push for the Senate to create a filibuster exception for these bills and pass them through the Senate on a simple majority vote. Then, he will work to ensure the President signs them into law.
CONGRESSIONAL INTERFERENCE IN D.C. AFFAIRS
Ankit will work as hard as he can to protect all local D.C. laws from being overturned by Congress and to prevent Congress from passing federal laws dictating local policy to the city, no matter his personal opinion on the issues. Ankit believes the Shadow Senator position can lead and coordinate efforts by the statehood community to keep Congress’ hands off DC and ensure that the movement is being as effective as possible. Ankit will be especially focused on eliminating the congressional budget prohibitions on using our local tax dollars to help low-income women afford abortions and legalizing marijuana. He will also fight fiercely to protect criminal justice reforms that hold bad cops accountable, as well as the Local Resident Voting Rights Act of 2021 that granted the right to vote in local elections to non-citizens, including the Treasurer of Ankit’s own campaign.
REMOVE FEDERAL OBSTACLES TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Housing costs in D.C. are out of control, and multi-generation native Washingtonians, young people, and the working class are being priced out of the city. Congress currently imposes a limit on how tall buildings in Washington D.C. can be. Ankit believes that these kinds of local issues should be left to the D.C. Council, which is actually equipped to balance the tradeoffs between preserving D.C.’s skyline and building more housing to reduce our high rent and home prices. Ankit will work with the D.C. government to replace the congressionally-imposed Height Act with a local Height Act that will allow the city to construct more affordable housing and lower housing costs for you and your family.
FEDERAL FUNDING FOR METRO & OTHER DEMOCRATIC PRIORITIES
Ankit will work as D.C.’s elected advocate before the Senate to ensure that Congress properly funds D.C. priorities in the bills it is moving and will fight proposals that provide D.C. less funding than other states. He will be especially focused on securing federal funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Association (WMATA). This will address WMATA’s fiscal cliff and prevent a catastrophic cut in Metro service. It will also allow Metro to build either the Georgetown - SE D.C. - National Harbor Blue Line Loop or the Falls Church - Georgetown - Ivy City Silver Line Express–either of which would greatly improve Metro’s service levels and connectivity.
FEDERAL GUN LAWS & INCREASED FUNDING TO PREVENT CRIME
D.C. has been experiencing a devastating crime spike. Gun violence takes more lives by far than any other kind of violence in the District of Columbia. While D.C. has strong local laws regulating guns, in several nearby states, anyone can buy a gun without a background check and bring it back to the District. Congressional Republicans often attack D.C. for its high crime rates, but Congress deserves as much blame for this as our local government. Ankit will use his platform as Shadow Senator to push Congress to pass common-sense federal gun laws that will greatly reduce crime. He will also work to increase funding for our undermanned U.S. Attorney’s office so that more people arrested for committing crimes are actually prosecuted.
ENSURE DIVERSE ELECTED LEADERSHIP THROUGH CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
Ankit believes that as many communities as possible should have representation in their legislature, and that what we are currently doing is not working. Two years after statehood is achieved, a Constitutional Convention will be held to consider amendments to the D.C. Constitution. Ankit will work with Washingtonians across the city to build a consensus on changes that should be made to the Constitution during that Convention to allow minority communities (such as the Latino and LGBTQ+ communities) to elect representatives of their choice, while also ensuring majority communities maintain their fair share of representation. This could include proportional representation (potentially paired with an increase in the number of representatives), reducing the size of districts and increasing their number, or some other solution.